Teen Survives Being Shot 15 Times For Trying To Leave Gang

Nineteen-year-old Atlanta youth Orentheal Childs (pictured below right) who was left for dead after being shot 15 times for attempting to cut his ties with a gang is miraculously, still alive, reports My Fox Atlanta.

Childs was a member of a new street gang, the Young Mob, which is a subset of the gang Goodfellas.

According to police, the Young Mob’s credo is “you stay in until you die,” so once someone becomes a member, they are forced to make a lifelong commitment and their only ticket out is death.

U.S. Marshal Eric Heinz told My Fox Atlanta that the teen informed his fellow gang members he wanted out. According to Heinz, the kid said, “Hey, look, I want to go straight, be law-abiding,” and these were not the words that the gang members reportedly wanted to hear.

So Young Mob allegedly riddled Childs’ body with bullets on February 15th.

Police say that after gang members thought they had executed the teen, they left him on the street.

But he wasn’t dead.

Instead, he began to crawl and moan and was spotted by some people who came to his aid. The people who provided the youth with assistance are now in police protective custody.

Watch news coverage of Childs’ survival here:

According to an unidentified relative of the victim, Childs has undergone surgery and is on the road to recovery.

“I think he’s strong and he’s a survivor,” the family member told My Fox Atlanta.

On Tuesday, agents with the U.S. Marshals Counter Gang Unit and Atlanta Police caught two suspects who were connected to the brutal shooting, a 16-year-old and 19-year-old, Farrakmad Muhammad (pictured below). Both teens, who are members of the Young Mob, had escaped to Tennessee and are now in police custody.

The case is still under investigation and authorities are asking anyone with information on the shooting to call CrimeStoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477).